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September 2023 - Utilities

Utilities industries are experiencing the worst falls in annual leave being taken: A study into annual leave being taken by employees across the UK has found that the total number of leave days being taken by employees has fallen in the last two years, with utilities industries being particularly affected.

The Annual Leave Report 2023 by Access PeopleHR looked at the state of annual leave in the UK according to sector, taking into consideration the experiences of over 122,000 employees at more than 3,000 companies. It found that in the last two years, the total number of annual leave days has dropped by 2.7%, despite holiday entitlement rising by 16.5%. According to the report, despite a rise of up to 18% entitlement in the utilities industries, the sector has seen the worst falls in annual leave being taken.

The research found that in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply industry, there has been an 11.88% drop in annual leave days taken in the last two years – the worst of all sectors. This is despite staff being encouraged to take more days off – with the average entitlement jumping to 37 days, up from 31.8. The water sector featured second in the table, seeing a 9% fall in lthe last two years, and even less taken in the last year (12%), despite entitlement rising by 18.45%.

Charles Butterworth, Managing Director at Access People said:

"The fact that holiday entitlement has grown so much in recent years is promising, however it will become pointless if they’re seen as job perks - but people are too busy to take them. Companies need to take action to identify the reasons for the lack of holiday requests, and ensure that they implement ways of working that rectify this."

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